Young athletes may get the chance to compete on world's stage
The plan was recently given the thumbs up by the IOC Executive Board in Beijing.
Bermuda Olympic Association chief John Hoskins said he had heard about the plan and said it would give a chance for the island’s younger athletes to shine on the world’s stage.
The BOA will also be pleased that Rogge promised that the IOC would pay all the travel expenses of the athletes and judges — a cost of about $11 million.
“The money will come from the IOC’s own funds and will not be drawn from Olympic revenues. No infrastructure will need to be built specifically for the event,” Rogge said. “Many cities have university campuses which could serve as the Olympic village. Only existing stadiums would be used. There will be no need for arenas capable of holding 50,000 people. A stadium for 5,000 to 10,000 will be enough.”
Rogge has confirmed that Moscow and Singapore are among the cities which have expressed interest in hosting the event. The 2010 host city will be selected in late 2008, he said.
Hoskins said this week: “We have not been (officially) advised about it but I have read something about it. I imagine that if he (Rogge) says it will happen it will probably happen.”
Hoskins said that the Commonwealth Games instituted the Commonwealth Youth Games in Edinburgh, Scotland in 2000.“The second one was in 2004 in Bendigo, Australia and a Bermuda gymnastics team went down there for that.
“When Delhi (India) were bidding for the 2010 Games they had heard about the Bendigo Games and in their bid they said they would run a Commonwealth Youth Games.”
Those Games, said Hoskins, will be staged in Pune next year. “We will be attending them,” said the BOA chief.
“The Commonwealth Games started youth games and maybe the IOC are looking to follow them now. It will not have a complete Olympic programme though,” he said.
The fact that the IOC, like India’s Commonwealth Games organising committee, would pay the expenses for Bermuda’s athletes to travel to the Games, made the idea of attending them all the more enticing.
“With India paying the expenses of the athletes it makes it far easier for small countries like Bermuda to send a team.
“Part of their bid was that they would pay for a number of athletes to go. So we have been allotted a number of spaces. It is a lot of money to send athletes all around the world and when they pay for it makes it much easier for us,” said Hoskins.
Three sports which Bermuda may send athletes next year to the Commonwealth Youth Games in India are swimming, tennis and track.
Rogge acknowledged that the Youth Olympic Games may not attract big media interest or large crowds. “The event is not held to draw spectators, but to develop and educate young athletes for competitions of the future,” he said, adding that the IOC will produce its own television footage of the Games and offer it free to rights holders.
The first Games would be launched in 2010 with a summer version and a winter version will be staged in 2012. Each would take place every four years, with the summer games lasting 10 days and the winter version seven days. About 3,000 athletes would participate in the summer version and 1,000 in the winter. The event would feature Olympic sports and resemble the traditional Olympics in many ways.
“Only one thing will be different,” Rogge said. “There will be no national flags or anthems to avoid all nationalism. The only flag raised during the medal ceremonies will be the Olympic flag, and the only anthem will be the Olympic anthem.”
“These Youth Olympic Games should not be seen as mini-Olympic Games,” Rogge said. “There will be competition, of course, but the main goal is not elitism. The main goal is not competition as such. The main goal is to give the youngsters an education based on Olympic values: friendship, fair play, non-violence and a rejection of any form of doping.
“All these values that are, in a way, not easy to transmit to athletes in the normal Olympic Games.”
Chance for young athletes to go to Youth Olympics Games
